Path of the Demon
by Panja Mysy
Summary: Alternate Universe in which Star Clan wasn't wiped out in one go. Black*Star is the last survivor of his Clan, seeking revenge on the DWMA for the slaughter of his entire family. He walks his Clan's path, hunting down the Meisters and Weapons sent to collect his soul, gaining strength for his ultimate goal...to bring down the Academy and ultimately, Death himself. Rated T for now.
**Excuse my absence from writing lately, but my life has been one giant shit show lately and writing on my Attack on Titan stories just hasn't been in my interests for a while. Soul Eater came in and took over my creativity.**

 **However, I am not abandoning my AOT stories completely, just waiting for the creativity for them to come back to me. For now, here's this!**

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" _Your name is Black*Star._

 _You will snatch away peoples' aspirations._

 _You are the one who lives in the darkness."_

Another Meister from that damn academy? No, two this time.

From his vantage point among the shadows of the tree branches above the clearing, Black*Star could easily observe and judge his hunters and their individual skill levels. One of them appeared to be giving orders to the other, so he pegged the older one as the biggest threat, the superior. He'd be the first to go.

 _Assassin's Rule Number One: Silence. Dissolve in the darkness and erase your breath. Wait for an opening to attack your target._ He'd already achieved this, the Meisters were completely unaware of his presence…and his time to strike was now.

Silent as a shadow, the assassin dropped from the branches onto the larger Meister's back, dagger sinking into the back of the man's neck with that familiar sharp sound of metal cutting flesh. Music to his ears. Flecks of the vanquished Meister's blood spattered his face as he rode the large man's limp body down to the ground, yanking the knife out when the dead man's last nerve twitches finally stopped.

He grinned wickedly and licked his bottom lip where some of the blood had come to rest as he faced the second Meister. This one was younger, around his own age, probably 14 or 15 at the most, in his hand he clutched a ninja blade and was crouched low in a defensive stance…but his shaking legs and the look of horror and shock on his face spoke volumes. He was terrified. He was no match for his quarry…the hunter had become the prey in a matter of seconds.

"Are you scared, kid?" Black*Star asked, cocking his head slightly in fake interest, "You should run, you know? It's really stupid of you to stand here and try to fight me…you don't stand a chance."

The boy's countenance changed ever so slightly, defiance sparked in his blue eyes and he gripped his weapon tighter.

"Tsubaki, change to kusarigama."

Black*Star's eyes widened slightly as a golden glow erupted from the ninja blade and morphed quickly into a perfectly balanced chain scythe. He'd heard of such Weapons before, rare as they were, who could take on multiple forms, but he'd never actually seen one…but now that he had, he realized he wanted that Weapon. And what Black*Star wanted, Black*Star would get.

"That's an impressive weapon you've got, kid," he commented thoughtfully as he studied the links of the chain between the blades, "Let's test it out, what d'ya say?"

Without another word, Black*Star rushed forward, spinning to the side as one of the two scythe blades came flying at him. It was an easy dodge, this Meister's skill level was low; this would be too easy. Sparks flew as his slashing attack was successfully blocked by the second scythe still in the Meister's hand, he let out an amused laugh at the bold young man's efforts before lashing out with a ferocious kick to the side of the boy's knee, causing the kneecap to dislocate with an audible popping sound. A scream echoed through the clearing and the sound of a body hitting the dirt…this fight was over.

Black*Star walked a little ways away from the boy half laying and half sitting on the ground, hands hovering over his oddly bent leg as he let out loud cries of pain. He bent his neck to either side to pop the tension out of his vertebrae before turning back to look at his victim.

 _Thunk!_ Unexpected pain shot through him and it stopped him in his tracks as he looked down in shock. One of the ends of the chain scythe was embedded in his chest, not very deep, but deep enough to be firmly stuck there. He lifted his gaze slowly, glaring angrily from under his furrowed brows, and made eye contact with his attacker…a girl, clutching her long, black ponytail which changed into a linked chain about halfway along the space between them. So this was the Weapon's human form? And such a cute, pathetic attempt. With an amused smile, Black*Star gripped the handle of the scythe and pulled it from his chest with a grunt, gripping it tightly he yanked hard, resulting in a pained yelp from the weapon as she was pulled to the ground by her hair.

Black*Star rolled his eyes and sighed as he continued his purposeful approach to the Meister. There was no need to draw out this kid's suffering, torture just wasn't his style. But, to his surprise yet again, the Weapon stood up and placed herself between him and the boy, her face was clearly full of fear, but he saw a grim determination there as well, something in those violet eyes made him stop…he was curious.

"Step aside, Weapon," he ordered her grimly, "You won't save him, you know that. You're no match for me."

"Maybe not," the Weapon agreed, her voice was soft, but there was no hint of the shaking fear that people's voices usually held when facing him. Black*Star found this both incredibly annoying and incredibly fascinating. "But I swore to protect my Meister with my life. I'll die before I let you touch him again."

For a long moment, the assassin and the Weapon faced off, eyes locked in a silent stare down. Violet eyes filled with grim determination, green eyes heavily lidded and bored.

"Don't be an idiot," Black*Star finally spoke, his voice was quiet, matter-of-fact, "That's a very useful quality, and it's one you'll be sure to continue once you're _mine_ , but you're far too valuable to die for someone like that."

He wouldn't waste his time with this ridiculous attempt at a standoff, so he thrust his palm into her chest and released a small burst of his soul wavelength into her. Even that small amount sent the Weapon skidding backwards and crumpling to the ground, and Black*Star circled around the pathetic Meister before kneeling behind him and placing one hand under the boy's chin and one on the opposite side of his head.

"Please…" Oh, great, now the kid was begging? When would these people learn he had no mercy left to give? And even less shits. He just gave the boy a small huff of laughter before giving his head a sharp twist, a cracking sound announcing the Meister's broken neck as it turned 180 degrees around in the assassin's hands.

A sharp cry of dismay came from the Weapon where she was still laying in the dirt, she had gathered enough strength to push herself onto her elbows but her legs hadn't recovered yet…she was staring with wide, horrified and helpless eyes, her mouth open, her fingertips dug deep into the earth under her hands as if she was trying to find something to hold onto. Her eyes brimmed with tears and her body began to shake as sobs threatened to pour from her throat.

Black*Star let go of the dead Meister and stood up, brushing the dust off the knee area of his pants before making his way over to the devastated girl. He stood over her for a moment and then squatted down near her head. This almost turned out to be a mistake because a hand, holding a sharp blade, shot out in his direction and his quick reflexes narrowly prevented the blade embedding into his crotch. With a fierce growl, he snatched her wrist and twisted it hard to make her drop the small knife, then he gripped her chin in his other hand and tilted her face up.

"Still fighting?" he hissed angrily, "Do you have any idea who I am, you stupid girl?"

All trace of sadness and fear faded from the violet eyes and was replaced by utter hatred. She gritted her teeth for a moment before speaking:

"The last surviving member of the Star Clan, son of the demon named White*Star, number one on Lord Death's list of evil souls to be collected. Black*Star."

Black*Star laughed loudly at the Weapon's statement and he let go of her chin to pat her on the cheek, smiling almost genuinely.

"Number one on the list? Seems like my reputation has gotten bigger than I even thought. Not surprising, considering my impressive history and my incredible skills, not to mention my amazing stage presence. Anyone who lives to tell the tale of meeting me is bound to sing my praise."

The Weapon blinked up at him, looking surprised by his comments, and more than a little confused by his sudden change of attitude…but it didn't last long enough for her to consider because a moment later she was being pulled none too gently to her feet, his hand closed on her neck to hold her in place, not hard enough to cut off her air.

"List of evil souls, huh? That's what you said. But, tell me something, Weapon, am I really an evil soul?" he wasn't surprised he was on the list, his human kill count was an impressive thing, but he didn't like the insinuation one bit, "You think I'm on the path to becoming a kishin, don't you? Well, you're wrong. I'm not evil, my soul is very human, maybe even more pure than some people at that precious academy of yours."

The Weapon blinked in surprise at his words. Was he trying to convince her he was innocent after what she'd just seen him do? Even now the souls of the vanquished Meisters floated in the clearing waiting for this monster to collect and consume. Her wandering eyes must have betrayed her thoughts because Black*Star dragged her along with him to where her vanquished Meister's soul hovered over his mangled body, the assassin's hand extended to take hold of the blue hued orb.

He let go of her neck and stepped back slightly so she could observe. He held the soul aloft and tilted his head back, mouth wide open as he lowered it down…and then he gave her a sidelong look and snapped his jaws shut before bursting into laughter. He straightened back up and laughed at her surprised face, the soul still held in his hand.

"You think I actually eat souls?" he asked, amusement all over his face, "You know that's impossible, right? I'm not a Weapon."

"B…but…you hunt humans…"

Amusement was immediately replaced with anger, blue eyebrows scrunched together as he stared at her in silence.

"Hunt them? Is that really what you think? Let me guess…your precious Lord Death told you that? What he says is _always_ the truth, though, isn't it? Well, listen up, girl…let me tell you the real story."

"I don't need to listen to you! You're a monster and my job is to defeat you!" The shout was unexpected, and even the Weapon herself looked a bit surprised by her burst of confidence. But Black*Star just shook his head and grabbed her neck again, this time squeezing hard enough to block her airway, his point was very clear. _Shut up._

"A monster, huh? You and your friends from the Academy hunt down my entire family and kill them all, one by one, right in front of my eyes until I'm the only one left, and I'M the monster? Do you have any idea what it's like to be ten years old, covered in your mother's blood as you run for your very life because she died to save you and give you the chance to get away? She told me with her dying breath not to trust them because they wouldn't even stop their slaughtering long enough to consider some of us might be innocent. Because of who my father was, no one would ever see me as anything but a demon's son, so I trained myself hard to be what I am…feared, because I had to fight if I wanted to survive. I don't hunt humans so get that bullshit out of your head, they hunt me and they die for it."

He let go of her neck and pushed her away from him, making a noise of disgust in his throat.

"If defending my own life and seeking revenge for my family makes me a monster then I guess I am one after all."

The Weapon coughed and wheezed a while, her hand rubbing at her sore neck where marks of his fingertips were beginning to form. Black*Star didn't give her very long to recover before he stepped back up to invade her personal space, intimidating her with his closeness.

"Weapon, don't you ever get tired of Death telling you what's right and what's wrong? Who is he to choose who lives and dies and who's evil and who's not? As my Weapon, you'll see a whole new side of things…you'll see the truth."

"I'll never let you use me."

Black*Star just smiled, but there was no trace of humor in the twist of his lips, it was a threatening smile that specifically displayed his canine teeth.

"You seem to think you actually have a choice about it," he chuckled darkly, "But you don't. The only choice you really have is to let me use you willingly or not. You think your soul can stand against mine? No…one way or another, you're going to be my Weapon."

He gripped her wrist and began dragging her towards the trees, heading in the direction of his makeshift "home" to pack it up and move on again, his location would be all too easily tracked after these two deaths. He scooped up the souls as he went.

"I'd rather not have to overpower your soul though, Weapon, you get more power from a resonance. So do us both a favor and don't be stubborn about it."

"Tsubaki."

Black*Star glanced over his shoulder and saw that the weapon was looking down at her feet as he pulled her along behind him, a tear slid down her cheek and she refused to meet his look with her own.

"What?"

"My name isn't 'Weapon', it's Tsubaki."

 _Tsubaki? Like that stupid flower with no smell?_ He sure hoped shewasn't as pathetic as her name's sake.

"Whatever. Your name doesn't matter. You're just a tool for me to use, nothing else."

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 **Ok, I wrote this while I was half asleep…and now I'm gonna take a long, much needed nap. Hope this is half as quality as I want it to be. Review and let me know your thoughts!**


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